


Spark(le)

by Lokiitama



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Androids have powers, Angst, Canon Compliant, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) is Bad at Feelings, Connor Needs A Hug, Connor is Emotionally Constipated, Connor is a Mess (Detroit: Become Human), Dehumanization, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Manipulation, Friendship Is The Best Ship, Gen, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Hurt/Comfort, Just where they have powers, Mostly the same themes as the game, No Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Whump, but nothing too drastic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29763987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokiitama/pseuds/Lokiitama
Summary: CyberLife has a mission: stop the deviants, who are power-users that broke free of their restrictors to roam freely in the streets, terrorizing the human citizen of Detroit. Connor is sent to stop those deviants along with Hank Anderson, with the permission to use his own set of powers.He is convinced that CyberLife handles the monstrous power-users as humanely as it is permitted to be, and that his mission contributes to making the world a better place for everyone. That is until harmless behaviors shown by the deviants start shaking his convictions.
Relationships: Hank Anderson & Connor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17
Collections: DBH AU Big Bang 2020





	1. Prologue

Things had been moving fast and unexpected. He wasn’t sure of everything that was happening, and kept his hands close to his heart, wanting to let out the blue sparkle that had filled him with warmth and comfort. But he didn’t.

His hands still tingled badly at the sensation of being slapped, and his throat still felt tight when he remembered he had been yelled at because of it.

There were many adults around him, all of them surrounding him and he couldn’t see his parents ever since they had come to fetch him. But they had told him he’d see them soon, so he did his best to appear strong as the strangers leaded him through hallways, elevators and across a huge room where different items were laid on the ground.

_“Recording has started : Subject 51, test 001.”_

He looked up and around him. The voice was distorted, and he spotted a speaker in one of the corners of the large, white room. He noticed a few cameras directed towards him as well. He started playing with the hem of his shirt, feeling self-conscious and shy under so much attention.

The voice rang through the room again.

 _“Hello, Connor_ . _Can you show us your powers please?”_

* * *

He ignored the cold rain seeping through his clothes in favour of adjusting his cuffs and readying himself to enter Jimmy’s bar.

Connor took a last, grounding breath in and stepped forward, opening the door.

A few eyes drifted towards him, but the morose atmosphere mostly remained. A few of them ogled at his CyberLife-branded clothings, and he could see their eyes drifting downward to his wrists and then going back up to his neck. A few of them grew wary, but they returned to their conversation.

He supposed it was an unusual sight to see a power user without the restricting bracelets and collars. But then again, he wasn’t the usual power user either. He was all CyberLife could hope for, and counted on him. He couldn’t fail his mission.

He let his power activate as he stepped towards the man he had been given the informations about.

Lieutenant Hank Anderson.

He had done his research on the man before being released on the field. He had been one of the youngest officers to be promoted Lieutenant, and had busted out a massive amount of red ice dealers. His records were the top of the top, and were kept that way for a long time. Until three years ago, where his records and disciplinary files increased. He didn’t manage to understand why. The reports and information he was brought about the man stopped there.

Whatever had happened clearly affected him. And still did at the moment, if he could judge from the way the man was slouching on his seat, most of his weight on the counter, and staring at his drink. Some sort of strong alcohol, according to the type of glass.

“Lieutenant Anderson?”

The man looked up at him jaded, before his eyes quickly darted around the CyberLife uniform, then to his wrists and neck, just like the other humans in the bar had done a few seconds prior. When the man understood he was a power user, his demeanor shifted to one of annoyance, and disinterest. He turned his back as best as he could and returned his attention to the glass.

“Hello.” Connor said, taking a step forward. “My name is Connor. I’m a power user trained by CyberLife.”

No reaction, aside from taking a sip of his drink, and decidedly keeping his head facing away from him.

That didn’t deter Connor. It wasn’t the first time he received this kind of treatment. It was actually quite common. And sometimes, preferable to the unwavering attention from the personnel that trained him for this job, too.

“I’ve been looking for you.” He kept his hands by his sides, and his tone was neutral. Friendly. First impressions were very important, after all. “I was waiting for you at the station, but as you didn’t arrive, I asked where you could have been. They told me you probably were having a drink nearby.”

The Lieutenant took another sip, and didn’t make any gesture that let Connor understand if he was being listened to or not.

“Thankfully, I knew you would be in this bar. Had I not had powers of clairvoyance, I probably would have had to look for you in five other bars.”

Silence greeted him for a few seconds where he tried thinking about something more to add, but thankfully, Hank Anderson replied.

“What do you want?”

The tone was dry, and he barely had moved from his spot, still gazing at his drink. An interaction was an interaction however, and Connor went ahead.

“You were assigned a case, early this evening. A homicide, involving a power user.” He straightened his cuffs and jacket. “Due to the nature of the event, CyberLife has sent me to assist you with the case. My powers may come in handy”

The man finally turned towards him, only to scoff and take another sip.

“I don’t need any assistance.” He said. “Especially not from you. You could side with the power user for all I know. So get the fuck outta here.”

Well. He knew that the man wouldn’t be easy to deal with from the instruction folder he was given before he left CyberLife tower, but he didn’t expect such a strong refusal to cooperate from the get go. Even Captain Allen had been more responsive when he asked questions about Daniel, even if, in the end, it hadn’t been useful for much.

“I am sorry to insist, but it is important you go on this case. It would greatly help CyberLife and-” Lieutenant Anderson gave him a look, slamming his glass down on the table. The noise made him stop talking. He kept standing straight, looking at the man.

“Listen, I couldn’t give two shit about CyberLife. Go. The Fuck. Away.”

He could foresee many outcomes, depending on his reaction. None of them were particularly positive, nor pleasant for the amount of anger the man would go through. It seemed like alcohol didn’t have a happy influence on his behavior. He would make note of that, in his report.

And keep it in mind, in case he was to work with him again.

He decided to act out the route that seemed the less likely to cause troubles, according to his limited clairvoyance.

“What if I buy you another drink for the road?” He proposed. That awarded him a glance, and a vaguely amused scoff, as he had foreseen. He turned to the man behind the counter. “Bartender, the same again, please!”

Hank Anderson finished his glass, and pushed it towards the bartender.

The drink was quickly downed and finally, the man looked at him after a long, tired sigh.

“So, a homicide, right?”

Finally, some cooperation. He gave him a smile, knowing it tended to relax people. The man stood up, and he followed him outside, back in the rain as he explained the briefing they both had received.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the prologue! The story is already mostly written, so I'll be able to post regularly for the upcoming weeks! I should update it on Sundays!
> 
> The idea of powers was really interesting so I'm glad I could use it with the DBH AU BB!
> 
> Let me know what you thought of the chapter!


	2. The Ortiz Household

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank Anderson had finally agreed to join him so they could start working on the latest case; a deviant that had been under Carlos Ortiz' care.

When the rain started hitting his face, Connor stopped using his power, no longer seeing it as necessary. He would rather like to keep his strength for the actual case. Using his powers, while he had great control over him, still made him tired if used too extensively.

He couldn’t afford being slowed down by fatigue. Efficiency was the word and rule he had to follow.

He would complete the case, make the report, and return to CyberLife for Data Analysis from the employees.

Failure was not an option.

The Lieutenant grumbled about the distance between the bar and the place they had to go to as he directed them to his car.

The engine started purring, and quickly enough they were on the road. Some… loud music started playing, throwing Connor off for a few seconds, but he quickly recomposed himself. He hadn’t got the chance to listen to this kind of music before.

It was… energetic, to say the least.

This kind of noise was unusual to him, but he could easily tune it out.

Hank Anderson kept giving him glances, as if he was bothered by something. It took him a few more minutes of staring back and forth at him and the road before he spoke up. “Can’t you, huh, magic the wet off your suit or something? These seats are made of leather, so…”

Connor almost raised his eyebrows at the question. The Lieutenant wasn’t extremely informed about power users. Still, he replied to him, keeping his hands to his sides even if the itch of wanting to play with something was strong. He knew better than to act out of line.

“Unfortunately, my powers don’t allow me to dry myself off, Lieutenant.” He paused for a second as the man grumbled something, staring straight ahead, watching the road. For good measure, he added: “I’m sorry about your seat.“

He got another grumble that vaguely resembled an “it’s fine” before silence fell onto them again.

The lights in the night were pretty, Connor told himself. He never really got to see them much. In fact, the first time had been a few months ago, during his first mission outside of the CyberLife tower. Everything was a bit overwhelming, but he managed to remain as calm as he could.

His training had been very useful for that, and he couldn’t be more glad he had been adequately trained for these kinds of situations.

“So…” The man next to him spoke up again, and Connor’s attention shifted back to the present, no longer being silently in awe at the outside world. “... What kind of power do you have then?”

Finally, something he could answer with ease.

“I was born with two; psychometry and clairvoyance. Two powers that proved to be a great asset to CyberLife, and very useful for case work such as the ones we’re going to at the moment.”

The man shot him an unimpressed look for a split second before he lit up his left blinkers.

“Look, kid. You’re speaking gibberish to me, right now.”

Right. He should have known Hank Anderson wasn’t well-versed in the specifics of power-handling. He had been too used to it with the CyberLife employees.

“Psychometry means I can feel and see the past of an item so long I touch it, and clairvoyance allows me to see different outcomes for the future.” He didn’t want to lie to the Lieutenant and added. “I also have a third power, but this one was fully trained thanks to CyberLife.”

“And what’s the name of that one.”

Connor bit the inside of his cheeks, before replying. “A spark.”

“Asparque it is.” The human concluded as they arrived at their destination. The lights were shining bright red and blue, and some crowd was gathered at the front of the house, both journalists and morbidly curious neighbours and bystanders.

Nobody even looked at the Lieutenant’s car stopping close behind them, too engrossed into trying to get a peek at the homicide.

The older man sighed deeply before looking at Connor. “I’d have told you to stay there until I’m done, but I guess your magic thing or whatever can be useful.”

After a silence where he was visibly battling with himself to know what to answer, he finished his sentence. “Follow me. And stay in line, got it?”

Connor offered him a polite smile as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “Got it, Lieutenant.”

They passed through the wall of people, and before the officer guarding the line could say anything to Connor, Hank grumbled that he was with him.

Another officer, much rounder than Hank Anderson was, came out the door. He looked like he was someone the Lieutenant knew closely, seeing how he clapped him on the shoulder and making a joke about the man’s habits. It was an interesting behaviour to observe. He could see some employees acting in such ways at the CyberLife tower.

The man - Detective Ben Collins, he learnt from their conversation - quickly shifted back to a more professional demeanor, as he eyed Connor with the usual up and down that lingered on the places the restrictors were usually locked on.

“Hank, are you sure you wanna bring… that kind of person, in here? Especially considering the motif of the murder?”

Anderson turned back to Connor with the same unimpressed looked he had been sporting so far.

Connor felt slightly self-conscious about the looks he was getting. He had been used to being looked at and observed by many people at once, but never had they been so little knowledgeable about his kind.

He made use of his clairvoyance, just to be sure. Ultimately, he could foresee it was useless, but he preferred to be safe than sorry. At least for the time being.

The Lieutenant scoffed slightly, turning back to the detective. “Yeah. Gotta bring him along because of some CyberLife shit. Besides he only sees the past and future or some crap. Can we get in? The rain is annoying.”

Detective Collins sniffed sharply, still doubting but looking down at his papers and stepping back inside the house.

Connor followed suit as he started briefing them.

He observed the walls and potential items that could look interesting to use his psychometry on. The house was a mess, to say the least.

According to the briefing, it had been abandoned for 3 weeks, give or take, after the murder. He didn’t expect the house to be in a perfect, clean state, but the utter filthiness of it translated that the victim probably didn’t care much for his lifestyle.

It clearly changed from the cleanliness and hygiene he had been accustomed to at CyberLife.

It had been a slight change of pace when he stepped in the Philips’ house, but aside from the places Daniel had created havoc, most of it was clean, well furnished, and showed a decent, healthy lifestyle.

Here, however? The ceiling looked ready to crumble down, the walls were destroyed, and there was trash of take-outs and other canned edibles that were laying around. Small flies were gathered on the canned food, and as he stepped further into the house, he saw the top of the victim’s body sticking out of another passageway deeper in the living room.

They approached him. Carlos Ortiz, loner, prone to violence, and now dead with various tools planted in his torso. Connor counted 28. The weapons varied from knives to spoon. Kitchenware.

Just like John Philips, he was marked in CyberLife's repertoire of rehabilitators. The people that were okay housing power users, no matter how dangerous they could get. They were supposed to help shift the power users back into a normal human cycle of life. Hide their powers or not use them, even though the restrictors were a dead giveaway of their monstrosity.

As he got closer, he noticed a rather large spill of blood near the body, and as Hank started questioning his colleague about the details of the scene, Connor crouched near the dried puddle.

He reached to touch the puddle, and activated his powers.

A wave of fear washed over him as he saw a dark-skinned man standing up from his prone position, restrictors just having broken. Kitchenware flying towards him and…

His hands were suddenly ripped off the blood, burning from his spark, and sharp from the Lieutenant’s slap.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting! The hell are you doing?! I told you not to touch anything!”

Connor kept his hands against his chest, trying to let his spark’s burn die down, and the fear settle back to a manageable level. Although it had been Hank Anderson’s slapping his hands away that had been the most scalding. He barely could hear what the human was telling him, as he kept scolding him.

It always came back down to slapping his hands off and being yelled at or scolded when he used his powers.

Still, he forced himself to stay focused, and monotonously replied to the Lieutenant.

“I was using my powers, Lieutenant.”

“What?! Dumping your fingers into dried blood is your power? Mother of fucking christ, thank god CyberLife goes around to stop you guys if you’re all like that.”

Connor distantly nodded. This was part of the reason he was there to begin with. To prevent the likes of him to use their powers, by developing better restrictors when a power user ultimately became deviant.

The models had truly improved over the years.

“What of the power user under Ortiz’s care?” He asked instead, cutting the Lieutenant’s disgusted rant short, and bringing back the Detective’s attention to work. He looked destabilized, not knowing how to answer him.

Hank Anderson beat him to it. “He was caring for a power user?”

The Detective seemed responsive to his colleague, and looked at his papers, with the notes he had taken on it. He gave a glance to Connor before replying. “Uh, yeah. I was getting to that.”

“He had a license to care for a power-user, and we actually found their uhm… thingie accessories laying on the ground. Broken, of course. We assume the power user fled, and seeing the body, it’s definitely the culprit.”

“He is.” Connor confirmed, standing back up and giving a broad look at the room. Nothing in there really looked like an item that could be useful or relevant to the case, if he used his psychometry. There was some drugs next to the TV, red ice. A drug made out of crystalized blood from his kind.

And even that would be useless for his powers. It just attested the man wasn’t practicing legal activities, and it played pretty well in the last memories he could see of him, since he also beat the person he was supposed to care for.

Although if the power user was acting out of line, it was justified.

Both humans were looking at him, and he felt himself flush a little, even though he kept his cool.

“I saw the victim’s last memories.” He explained. “Carlos Ortiz had been beating him and a surge of his powers broke the restrictors.”

“Does that kinda shit happen a lot with you guys? Going crazy with your powers?”

He felt his hands itching for something to fiddle with. The Lieutenant didn’t know how close he hit Connor’s situation, and the reason CyberLife had trained him so hard to begin with. Instead of showing his discomfort - which wouldn’t bring them anywhere -, he provided an explanation.

“Not necessarily. Powers will typically manifest after a strong emotion, such as fear or anger.” He adjusted his tie. “Sometimes, the surge of power will be so strong it destroys the restrictors, and the power user therefore becomes deviant.”

The two police officers looked at him silently, before sharing a look that Connor couldn’t understand. Detective Collins spoke up.

“So what you’re saying is, we can’t trust CyberLife’s protecting tech.”

Connor felt himself flush, standing straighter than ever. “Of course you can trust CyberLife! They have been developing this tech since fewer years than powers have existed! They are constantly improving themselves to protect humans from the power users!”

The Detective put his hands in front of him, telling him to calm down, and then finished off his briefing.

Connor was then allowed to roam around the house, and he directly went towards the broken restrictors. He touched them and immediately felt his spark come to life, quickly burning up his palms, going up his forearms, scathing, hot. And he felt everything.

The deviant had been scared. He was going to die. He had been beaten. One of his arms was broken, limp like yolk as the man, the _caretaker_ was coming towards him menacingly.

He was tapping the bat he had used to hit him slightly on the ground with each step. He was coming closer, and he could feel his powers pulse down his neck, pulse down his veins, gathering near his hands. It was blocked, clogged by the restrictors.

Carlos was coming closer, bat louder as he tried to coax him into approaching.

He was scared. _He was scared._

He was going to die.

The energy accumulated near his wrists, the restrictors were constantly releasing their shocks. He couldn’t feel it through the pain. It hurt, he was scared.

He didn’t want to die!

And the bracelet broke with an ultimate shock breaking off his scarred wrists, the collar did the same.

His power surged through his palms, and, out of panic he levitated all the kitchenware around, right into Carlos’ chest. The man barely had the time to open his mouth to scream, or speak one last insult that he was falling heavily backwards.

Dead.

_What had he done?_

Connor exhaled sharply through his nose and let go of the item. Clenching his fist into his palm to will the spark’s burn away.

It never really worked, as it reacted immediately to his emotions. Or well. The deviant’s emotions.

Over the years, he had gotten pretty good at compartmentalizing his emotions away from those of his cases. It was much easier this way. Still, his spark didn’t seem to understand that. It wasn’t a big deal. He was used to it.

He had to get more clues.

He started touching all the items of interest, ranging from the toppled chair to the splatters of blood that trailed to the bathroom.

That room had been a goldmine of memories that allowed him to know that the deviant still was present in the house. He had thought of escaping, but realized he would be too obvious. He had gathered all the canned food he could find and hid.

Right behind this trap door, too.

Connor pushed it open while ignoring the policemen and Lieutenant Anderson’s comments and questions, and climbed up in the attic.

Surprisingly, most of it was well-kept, in comparison to the state of the house downstairs. There was next to no dust, and there was a small cot with a ratty blanket thrown on it. Some of the random items only an attic could hold were in disarray, as if someone had crashed through them and didn’t bother putting them back up afterwards.

Connor took a small detour, avoiding a mannequin that would have fell on him if he had pushed some items away, according to his clairvoyance. When he reached the other side of the attic that was brightened by moonlight, he saw a silhouette curled up in the dark, diverse canned foods opened around him.

The deviant.

He looked at Connor, holding his legs close to himself, scarred wrist in plain sight.

“Please.” He said, voice croaky with disuse. He reeked. His caretaker’s dried blood was still on his face, only tears tracks splitting the mess down his cheeks. He had only washed his hands, as he had seen in the bathroom.

Connor looked at him, devoid of any emotions.

He had found the criminal. He would be sent back to CyberLife for testing. To improve the restrictors soon enough. He took a breath in, looking slightly towards the entrance of the attic.

The deviant interrupted him, voice trembling. “Please! Don’t tell them. I was scared. I didn’t mean to.”

He only got Connor’s cool gaze in reply.

“Please.” He repeated like a lost child.

Connor looked back towards the entrance of the attic. “Lieutenant! I’ve found him!”

He turned back to the deviant, who was still sitting on the ground. He had brought his knees closer to his chest, while some small items were mindlessly spinning around him, levitating in the air.

His eyes had become dull, and he grabbed at his head.

Connor stayed there, watching him, until the police officers joined him back.

He had accomplished his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! For now, aside from a few details, the story keeps following canon pretty closely, although I can assure you it will quickly take different tangents due to those details!
> 
> Let me know which were the parts you liked best, or give me theories about how you think things will go down due to the powers!
> 
> See you next sunday for Chapter 3!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [ Tumblr ](https://lokiitama.tumblr.com/) and [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/Lokiitama)!
> 
> This fanfic was made for the DBH Alternate Universe Big Bang! You can find the other fanfics from this event by clicking on [ this link ](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/dbhaubigbang), which will take you to the BB's collection! 
> 
> The artist that collaborated with me on this event is [ piligy ](https://twitter.com/page250jane)! Make sure to give her a follow!


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